PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Leslie Morrow (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Titus Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Morrow
vs
Johnson

160 cm
25
142 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

175 cm
19
135 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

Good takedowns
Counter striker
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Leslie Morrow!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Titus Johnson!
The judges for this bout are Tiny Johnson, Wesley Smith and George Francis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Johnson lands a body shot.
Johnson misses with a takedown

and Morrow counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Morrow pushes Johnson back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Morrow tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
With the fighters up against the cage, Morrow throws an elbow but misses.
Johnson drops down looking for an ankle pick but Morrow pulls his leg out and moves away.

Morrow pushes Johnson up against the cage in a clinch.
Johnson is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Morrow gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Leslie Morrow has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Titus Johnson.
Morrow is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Morrow gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Johnson.
Johnson is working for takedown but Morrow is calmly controlling the position for now.
Johnson is looking to take this one to the mat.
Johnson has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Morrow avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morrow tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Johnson avoids it.
Morrow misses with an elbow over the top.

Morrow has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Johnson clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
I would not like to be Johnson right now.
Morrow's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Johnson controlling the position well but he knows he's in a bad position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morrow controlling the position well here. Johnson rolled but Morrow kept the hooks locked in and stayed in the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Leslie Morrow wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Johnson with a lazy takedown attempt

and Morrow counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Morrow prevents Johnson from getting back to his feet.
Morrow controlling from the top position.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

Leslie Morrow has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.

Morrow throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Johnson tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Morrow is in Johnson's guard.

Morrow gets to his feet. Johnson looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
A leg kick checked by Johnson.
Morrow tries to close the distance and clinch up but Johnson swats him away and circles back towards the center.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson has his takedown stuffed

and Morrow counters with a takedown into side control.
Johnson looks gassed!

Morrow stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Johnson tries for a takedown but Morrow circles away easily

and Morrow counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.

Morrow escapes and gets back to his feet.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Johnson misses with a two punch combination.

Johnson tries to keep at a distance but Morrow has taken the fight into the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Leslie Morrow dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Morrow shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Johnson napping and manages to drive through into side control!

Morrow stands up and beckons Johnson to his feet.
Titus Johnson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Morrow rushes Johnson and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Johnson is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Johnson is trying to drag Morrow to the mat but Morrow just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Johnson wants to take the fight to the mat but Morrow manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Morrow throws an elbow that misses.
With the fighters up against the cage, Morrow throws an elbow but misses.
Morrow lands with a left to the head.
Johnson is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Leslie Morrow has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Titus Johnson.
With the fighters up against the cage, Morrow throws an elbow but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morrow stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.

Morrow decides to pull guard.
Leslie Morrow overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Johnson trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Johnson drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Morrow dives on top into guard.
Johnson is breathing heavily.
Morrow controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Leslie Morrow has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Johnson tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Johnson connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Morrow momentarily.

Morrow rushes Johnson and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Johnson goes for a takedown in the clinch but Morrow prevents it.
Morrow is pressed up against the cage. Johnson has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Morrow down to the mat. Morrow avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.

Morrow has managed to clinch.
Johnson has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Morrow is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

Morrow manages to break the clinch.

Morrow decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Morrow decides to stand and escape the position.

Morrow has closed the distance and engaged Johnson in a clinch.
Johnson blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

Morrow successfully pulls guard.
Johnson trying to move into half guard but instead Morrow has managed to sweep!

Morrow decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Morrow is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Johnson can do to turn this around?

Johnson pushes Morrow up against the cage in a clinch.
Morrow pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Morrow jumps guard.

Johnson is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Morrow is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Morrow has escaped and now he's on top!
Johnson wants to stand but Morrow is controlling the position.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Morrow not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Leslie Morrow dominated that second round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Johnson misses with a takedown attempt

and Morrow counters with a single leg into guard. Johnson didn't expect that.

Morrow stands up and waves to Johnson to follow him.
Johnson shoots in looking for a takedown but Morrow manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Johnson's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Johnson circles away from the clinch attempt.
Johnson misses with a straight left.
Johnson shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Morrow counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Morrow.
Leslie Morrow has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Titus Johnson.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Johnson being controlled here, momentarily.
Johnson takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

We're going to have a standup here because Leslie Morrow wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.

Morrow shoots in and gets a takedown into Johnson's guard.

Morrow gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Johnson tries for a takedown but Morrow circles away easily

and Morrow counters by clinching up.
Johnson tries for a takedown but Morrow manages to get underhooks.
Johnson blocks an elbow strike.
Morrow missing with knees to the body.

Morrow has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Johnson uses from the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Morrow has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Johnson off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.

Morrow moves into the clinch.
Johnson being controlled against the cage.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Johnson drops down looking for an ankle pick but Morrow pulls his leg out and moves away.

Morrow moves into the clinch successfully.
Johnson is looking to take this one to the mat.
Johnson is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Johnson blocks the elbow strike.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson goes for a takedown in the clinch but Morrow prevents it.
Morrow is pushing Johnson up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Johnson is looking to take this one to the mat.
Johnson changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Morrow fights it off and pushes away nicely.

Morrow clinches.

Morrow has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Johnson uses from the top position.
Johnson tries to free his leg and advance position but Morrow is retaining full guard.
Morrow is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Morrow is pulling down on Johnson's head. It's preventing any offense from Johnson, at least for the moment.
Morrow on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Morrow tries to get out of the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Johnson postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Morrow is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Johnson, into his guard.
Leslie Morrow is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Morrow stands up from Johnson's guard - Morrow perhaps looking for a knockout.

And that's the end of the fight!
Leslie Morrow showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Morrow has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight 30:27
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge George Francis scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Leslie Morrow!